[OOC] The Character Creation Workshop

How about "sometimes accidentally spills embarrassing secrets about his companions"

I could say stuff like "Esther got stuck in the toilet a few weeks ago". I'll always try to relate it to the current situation.

Oh nooo! haha. I couldn't. :)

Thanks for the suggestions! Aspects and Stunts are nifty, but tricky for sure. Here is my edit, I changed the Stunt.

Name: Vincent of the Woods
Description: TBD, but human.

ASPECTS
>High Concept: Skilled ranger and hunter of the woods.
>Trouble: Irrationally fears enclosed spaces; claustrophobic.
>Aspect 1: Forager of the wilds.
>Aspect 2: Arrows shot by my longbow are guided by my father's spirit.

APPROACHES
Careful +3
Clever +1
Flashy 0
Forceful +1
Quick +2
Sneaky +2

STUNTS
>Experienced Woodsman: Because I am an experienced woodsman, I get a +2 when I sneakily track a target through any wilderness.

sifu_g, what do you mean with this aspect? Is that the only weapon you will ever use?

From the book: "An aspect is a word or phrase that describes something special about a person, place, thing, situation, or group".
What makes your father's longbow special, or how does it make you special?

Maybe something like "My longbow can shoot cannonballs". Obviously a pretty crazy example, but think about making it unique :)

What if it was something like, "Arrows shot by the longbow are guided by my father's spirit."

That sounds pretty awesome, actually :D

Hah! That's kind of how I envisioned it. :) I made the change.

@TheGenerator There could be story elements of shops, bartering, or the mention of money exchange in our story... But I certainty won't be tracking "gp" or any little details like that, if that's what you mean -- it will be more abstract. I should have mentioned it in the original description, but I don't intend to track mundane things like money, food; so, no, not of particular importance in this game. I envision it running more like a TV Show Cartoon or a Movie (in the more Fate/PbtA style), as opposed to the more simulation resource management style of, say, D&D.

I think you can leave the stunt as "work in progress" status; you can always add it during play if the time is right.

Also, sounds like a fun aspect.

@Harrigan Let us know if you have any suggestions for our aspects.

Thanks

That works for me :)

Yep! One who kind of dropped out, though. And maybe took her (former) master's book with her...
We are absolutely on the same page already. Esther the Uncarefulis no competent mage! I'm seeing her High Concept given her permission to cast spells, btw. I'll keep it real, and you'll be in full control of her not getting too big for her britches by setting difficulties... and terrorizing all of us with my decisions to succeed at a cost. :]

Submitted Esther, and I see she's already been accepted -- cool. Sorry to be lagging, busy week at work. Lots of travel.

The thing that jumps out right now is Vincent's Arrows shot by my longbow are guided by my father's spirit.
This seems more like a Stunt to me, than an aspect. How would this be compelled or invoked against you? What makes it two-way? Something like "Guided by my Father's Spirit" might be a little easier to manage, flexible, and two-way. Or I can sometimes still see and hear my father or the like. All good if you leave as-is, just offering an opinion.

Good point. "Guided by my Father's Spirit" seems like a better fit for an Aspect. Am I good to make that change @GM?

I'm going to change this from 'secrets' to 'rumors'. Cause it seems a bit weird that Ivario would know actual secrets of people he doesn't know all too well (or at all). And that way it can always be contested by the other player if they don't agree with the rumor.

Sure.

I started reading the rulebook because I'm not sure what kind of weapon I want to be using and saw this:Since it says "or yelling a blistering insult with the intent to hurt your target", does that mean it's possible to do battle without ever touching the opponent? Cause if that's an option, I think it would fit my character.

I'm imagining something like this:
Ivario looks into his crystal ball while using his free hand to conjure the knowledge of the spirits, and sees that a branch will fall onto the ratman's head.
--> roll for an attack

Is that possible?

Interesting question.

Would you have a particular fairy tale fantasy character in mind, say from a movie or a TV show that we could compare this to? Also would there be any reason to predict that a branch is about to fall in this situation (like was it made loose somehow?) -- if not, then I'd say we're asking for more of a telekinesis power, then just fortune telling. In the case of fortune telling, I'm tempted to rule that it would not really be an Attack because the actual branch falling is just a matter of circumstance or being influenced by other spirits, but not by you directly. Notice...

"Use an attack when you try to hurt someone"

Perhaps what might make more sense is using the crystal ball to fore tell exactly when the loose branch is about to fall and then pushing the ratman under the branch at just the right time. This may be more of a Create an Advantage type situation than a "normal attack... but I'm still wrapping my head around that myself. In any case, describing that it hits the ratman's head would presume that you rolled high enough and that the ratman didn't jump out of the way.

Fate is a "narrative" system, and so it's true the mechanics don't really change from one "weapon" to another -- it's more about the narrative ('fluff' in a way); it just depends on the genre/setting. In theory, with a game that doesn't really have hand to hand combat, there could be "mental stress", such as feeling exhausted from insult 'attacks.' What does matter, however, is scale. A character that can use telekinesis to uproot a tree, probably wouldn't make sense in this particular fairytale world (unless we get to really high levels), but would make more sense in an Avatar Air Bender or Stranger Things like setting.

I might need to think about this more though.

@Harrigan is welcome to comment on this one.

Totally in line to "attack" any way that makes sense -- within the scope of the fiction, the genre, and the character and their concept -- often as defined by their aspects. In Esther's case, she literally can cast spells because of her high concept. So if the group is all on the same page that Ivario can see the future and attack with that knowledge in the context of a scene, cool. I personally agree that more often than not, it might make more sense for that to be a Create An Advantage or Defend roll.

The trump card here is in the hand of the GM -- who sets the difficulties for the actions. If it's stretching the limits, expect a tall difficulty at a minimum.

Thanks @Harrigan If you put it that way, and after giving it a little more thought, I could see @TheGenerator's example reworded in the form of an Attack, perhaps like so...

"Ivario looks into his crystal ball while using his free hand to conjure the knowledge of the spirits, sees that an already loose branch is about to fall, attacks by misdirecting the ratman to stand right under the branch -- which then falls [roll attack]"

Perhaps would work just fine. Though mechanically speaking, doing Create Advances or actually using a "Stunt" slot for this type of attack could provide more bonuses to the roll depending on the situation.

EDIT: In this way, I could imagine Ivario with his Crystal Ball being a be a bit like The Flash in "slow motion bullet time", where he can foresee amongst battle chaos all the scenery that is about to fall, then take a step forward or a back to get an enemy to stand in just the right spot -- only he's gotta do it real time while dodging enemy attacks himself.

I can't really think of any fairy tale examples of this.
I agree with that as well.
I was mostly looking for a way to attack that isn't the standard "I hit with stick/sword/bow". Just to bring some variation.
I'm fine with using it in that sense :)

I think it could also lead to fun failed rolls. Like "The branch falls exactly when predicted, but the bad guy just got struck by Esther and is not in the same place anymore. Then you see why the branch fell... a mountain lion in the tree has been disturbed during its nap. It looks angry".
I wouldn't take it that far, as that seems a bit too overpowered to me. The limiting factor for Ivario is that he has to take an 'action' to see the future. It's not something he is constantly aware of. Just like a swordfighter has to see an opportunity to strike, Ivario would have to actively look for a favorable situation.

In game mechanics terms, I wouldn't be doing anything that would not be possible to do with for instance a bow. A branch falling on a bad guy, would be just as easy/hard as a ranger shooting an arrow at this bad guy. (I would also keep line-of-sight requirements)
In my eyes, it's just a ranged/magic attack with the fluff of fortune telling.

@sean_don4, if you think it would be too much of a hassle in the game, feel free to say so. I could understand that it might bring too much chaos and confusion. I'm not trying to make your job difficult. Hehe :)